1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a card indexing or filing system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a portable, compact business card holder capable of being carried within a briefcase.
2. Background Art
A variety of organizational devices, known as card indexing systems or card filing systems are utilized to index and store cards which contain information for later reference or review.
Such indexing and filing systems typically consist of a horizontal storage channel wherein cards such as three inch by five inch cards are placed. A recipe card box is a typical example. The cards can be arranged alphabetically, by subject, or in some other manner, sections of which are separated by dividers indicating the alphabetical sequence or subject of the section of cards.
The user must scan these dividers until the proper section of cards is found, and must then further consult the cards within that section for the specific card desired.
Various-sized cards and papers are often loosely stored within a recipe box type indexing system. The variation in size, color, thickness, etc. of the cards and papers detracts from the organization and unity of the system and requires additional effort during searching. Moreover, although the loose placement of cards into a horizontal channel allows for their quick removal, this does not prevent a removed card from becoming lost, torn or otherwise rendered unusable.
One solution to these problems has been the rotating carousel card filing system. This system provides cards which are uniform in size, color and thickness. The desired information is written or typed onto the cards. The rotating carousel card filing system also provides for the storage and safekeeping of the cards by the use of storage rails. The cards carried on these rails have two holes punched at the bottom of each card which the storage rails penetrate. The rails can be opened, allowing for card removal, but the rails are closed when cards are not being added in order to prevent loss or mutilation of the cards.
One problem encountered with the rotating carousel card filing system is that the cards used are larger than business cards. Thus, the rotating carousel card filing system does not lend itself to the filing of business cards. Business cards do not have holes in them, and their dimensions are typically two inch by three and one-half inch, whereas the rotating carousel card filing system is designed for the filing of prepunched cards which are three inch by five inch. As a result, in order for a business card to be placed in the system, the information must be retyped onto one of the system cards or the business card itself must be attached to a system card.
Another problem with the filing of business cards in a rotating carousel card filing system is that the information is randomly located on the card such that any hole-punching done to the business cards may obliterate some of the information contained thereon.
An additional problem is that the rotating carousel card filing systems are not designed to be portably compact. In order to provide a rotatable circular array of cards, these systems have a minimum height equal to two cards plus the diameter of the carousel. This prevents rotating carousel card filing systems from being used in a portable manner because they are simply too tall.
Another problem with rotating carousel card filing systems with respect to business cards is that business cards are often obtained away from the office at some location remote from an appropriately configured hole-punch. The user must then place the card into a pocket or billfold and then remember the card when arriving back at the office. If the card does not get lost or destroyed in the meantime, the user must then wrestle with the problem of how to place the card into the rotating carousel card filing system without obliterating any of the information contained thereon. This often results in the cumbersome task of punching holes in the bottom of the business card with some hole punch found at the office which does not conform exactly to the rotating carousel card filing system.
When the business card is finally placed onto the system, its smaller size detracts from the organizational uniformity of the filing system. In order to prevent this scenario, some users will perform the cumbersome task of typing the information from the business card onto one of the system cards, or taping the business card onto one of said cards.